Premature infant feeder



June 1952 s. J. DEMARCO, JR 2,600,978

PREMATURE INFANT FEEDER Filed April 11, 1949 SALVATORE J. DEMARCO JR.

Patented June 17, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT orrice PREMATURE INFANTFEEDER Salvatore J. Demarco, Jr., Baltimore, Md., as-

signor to Products Manufacturing 00., Inc., a corporation of MarylandApplication April 11, 1949, Serial No. 86,755

1 Claim. 1.

This invention relates to nursing bottles and nipples and moreparticularly to those intended for feeding babies prematurely born.

It has among its objects to provide anew and improvednursing bottle andnipple that will avoid one or more of the disadvantages and limitationsof the prior art.

Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improvednursing bottle that is adaptable for feeding babies of very small sizeand vitality, that have to be fed artificially.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a new and improvedfeeding bottle for prematurely born babies, that have to be fedartificially and through forcible eiiorts on the part of the nurse orattendant.

A further object of the invention is to provide a new and improvedfeeding bottle for a prematurely born baby that can be held convenientlyin the hand of the attendant and having a nipple of relatively smalldimensions insertable in the mouth of such a baby, operable by theattendant to forcibly feed the contents of the bottle into him, inpredetermined intervals and quantities.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a new and improvedfeeding bottle for prematurely born babies that may be held in one handof an attendant and at the same time can be given a pumping action thatwill eliminate the necessity of the baby sucking thereon to empty itscontents therefrom.

Additional objects will be evident as the description of the inventionis outlined in more detail.

The conventional type of nursing bottle and nipple is of such a naturethat it is usable for normal babies or animals only, and cannot beemployed for babies that are prematurely born. A premature baby isusually of too small a size, particularly in regard to the size of itsmouth, and too weak physically, to receive and hold the nipple in itsmouth and suck the contents of the bottle through it. Futher the bottleis apt to be the same size as the conventional baby bottle and this initself makes its use unwieldy therefor. The nipple used, dependsentirely on the sucking action of the baby and cannot be operatedextraneously for feeding the premature baby, even though it could beinserted in its mouth, which is doubtful. However in this invention, thenipple and bottle are made specifically for a prematurely born baby. Thenipple has a thin long feeding tip that is insertable into the mouth ofthe baby and is supported from a relatively long tubular body that issqueezable together to force liquid out of it through the tip in apredetermined stream. Then in order to hold the nipple more securelythan the method employed for the conventional nursing bottle, the bodyis flanged and held to a cylindrically formed bottle by a perforated capscrewed on.

For a better understanding of the invention and the objects thereof,reference is made to the appended drawings, which illustrate aparticular form ofthe invention, while the claim indicates the scopethereof.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a nursing bottle and nipple embodying thisinvention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of Figure 1, and

Figure 3 is a view in perspective of the premature baby nursing bottleand nipple shown in Figures 1 and 2.

Similar reference characters refer to the same parts throughout thedrawings.

In the particular structure shown in the drawings, a bottle I0, is ofcylindrical form throughout with its open end portion formed with ascrew thread H externally. This screw thread I I is engaged preferablyby a plastic cap l2 to close the bottle, but has a central opening l3through which a tubular body 14 of a plastic nipple passes. The cap I2is arranged to press against a flange [5 formed peripherally on thebottom of the body I4 so as to hold it tight against the open edge l6 ofthe bottle, as indicated in Figure 2. A feeding tip I! extendslongitudinally from the body and is relatively small in diameter so itcan be forced in the small mouth of a premature baby and reach into samefor an appreciable distance. A small passage [8 is formed in the tip forthe milk or liquid food 20 in the bottle as it leaves the pressurechamber I 9 in the body M. This pressure chamber I9 fills with theliquid 20 and when its walls are pressed together by the thumb and firstfinger of the attendant, squirts the liquid out through the passage l8in the tip I l and into the mouth of the baby, when placed in it. Theresiliency of the body I 4 returns the body to its normal form when thispressure is released, and more milk is sucked into the chamber l9. Themanner of holding the bottle is shown in the drawings and needs nofurther explanation, except that it can be added, that it fits easilywithin a normally sized hand where it can be held by the fingerspressing its wall against the palm while the first finger and thumbengage the body M of the nipple ready to squeeze it.

The size is relatively critical, as its use is in a limited field, thatfor prematurely born babies. Further it is an activated device requiringefiort of appreciable extent by the attendant to work it while feedingthe baby. The conventional type of bottle and nipple are not heldnecessarily by the attendant when used by the normal baby. Because inthis case the baby does the work of forcing the contents of the bottleinto his mouth. Such work in this invention is performed by theattendant squeezing on the body of the nipple. v

The device shown in the invention is neat, compact and simple instructure. It can be readily cleaned to make it sanitary. It is capableof being held in one hand and operated thereby without further help. Itis an effective iristru= ment and in its experimental stages and useshas been found to meet the particular requirements of premature babies.The cap makes sure that the nipple will be held on to the bottle apositive manner, and somewhat adjustabl y. The use of the body as a pumpis effective while avoidingcomplications.

While but one general form of the iriyen'tion is shown in the drawingsand described in the specifications, it is not desired to limit thisapplication for patent to this particular form,

as it is appreciated that other forms of construction could be made thatwould use the same principles and come within the scope of the appendedclaim.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

A nursing bottle for premature babies comprising an open-endedcylindrical container having a relatively small diameter and alir'i'ii'ted 4 depth so that the bottle may be held firmly in the palmof the hand and gripped by the fingers, said container having outerthreads adjacent its open end, a flexible nipple having an imperforatelower flange resting on the edge of the bottle, a cap having internalthreads cooperating with the threads on the container to secure theimperforate flange in place, a vertical imperforate cylindricalextension projecting upwardly from the imperforate flange, saidextension being of a diameter smaller than that of the bottle, saidextension terminating in domeshapedportion, and a feeding tip protrudingcentrally and upwardly from the center of the dome-shaped portion to asubstantial extent so that it may be forcibly inserted in the mouth ofthe premature baby, said feeding tip having a tenuous passagetherethrough communicating with the aforementioned cylindricalextension, whereby pressure by the fingers of the user on the outerwalls of said extension will cause minute drops of the contents of thebottle to issue through the tenuous passage, the domeshaped portionacting as a stop when the feeding tip is inserted in the babys mouth.

SALVATORE J. DEMARCO, J R;

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the

